Alex Ovechkin is considered week to week after injuring his lower left leg in the Washington Capitals’ game Monday night at Utah.
The Capitals said Tuesday that Ovechkin would be evaluated further by doctors when they return home from their road trip.
The injury from a shin-on-shin collision with Jack McBain slows down Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record.
Ovechkin scored twice on Utah goaltender Connor Ingram on Monday night, marking the 178th goaltender he has scored on in his 20-year NHL career. He is tied for the league record with Jaromir Jagr. His first goal came with 8:55 left in the first period. He struck again on a power play 5:38 into the second.
“It’s beyond impressive what he does,” Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren said. “When it rains, it pours for him. It truly does. He finds ways to get to scoring areas and when he does and the puck is on his stick, he doesn’t miss. He’s our leader. He’s our bull.”
Ovechkin went to the Capitals’ bench 5:30 into the third period after colliding with McBain and crumpling to the ice.
“Hate to see it,” Washington forward Nic Dowd said after the game. “He’s been absolutely on fire, and he’s huge for our team. He’s our captain. … He’s been playing incredible hockey.”
On Sunday night, Ovechkin tied Patrick Marleau for the second most goalies scored on by netting a pair of goals against former Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov. He added an empty-net goal with 37 seconds remaining to earn his 31st career hat trick.
With Monday’s goals, Ovechkin needs only 27 to pass Gretzky for the NHL record. The 39-year-old Russian leads the league with 15 goals through 18 games, moving him up to 868 career goals.
He’s scored five in the past two games alone.
“He’s been phenomenal this year, leading the charge on our team,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “In times where you need these types of games, you need guys to step up and score, make a big play. He’s continued to do that. Off to a phenomenal start this year.”
Ovechkin’s two goals helped the Capitals to a 6-2 win over Utah. Washington has won four straight on the road while totaling 24 goals over those four games.
Associated Press reporter John Coon contributed to this article, which will be updated.